LGBTQ advocates blast new conversion therapy bill in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A new conversion therapy bill unveiled in the Utah Legislature is getting blasted by a LGBTQ advocacy group over concerns that it seeks to legalize the discredited practice.

House Bill 228, sponsored by Rep. Mike Petersen (R-North Logan), would ban certain health care professionals from providing conversion therapy to minors. The bill defines conversion therapy as subjecting patients to physically invasive or painful treatment to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.

However, the bill also specifies that “verbal or written communication by itself does not fall within the definition of conversion therapy.”

That’s where Equality Utah takes issue.

“The only form of conversion therapy that is still prevalent in the United States today is conversion talk therapy -- which has been discredited and denounced by every major mental health and medical organization in the country,” Troy Williams, the group’s executive director, said in a statement Wednesday morning.

Williams pointed to a 2020 rule change that banned conversion therapy for LGBTQ children in Utah. That rule was agreed to by then-Gov. Gary Herbert, Equality Utah, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Associated Press reported the dominant faith in Utah got behind the measure after guarantees that church leaders and Latter-day Saint therapists could still provide spiritual counseling.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Petersen said as a former counselor, the rule has been "particularly concerning for me." He said he's running the bill to ensure that children have the ability to discuss "a broader range of topics" with their counselors and therapists.

"I’ve spoken with former colleagues who have stopped treating minors because of ambiguity in the rule and fear of reprisal if they were to say something non-affirming to their minor patients," Petersen said. "I’ve also spoken with members of the LGBTQ community who are grateful for the upcoming change because they wish their counselors would have been more inquisitive and curious during their therapy sessions."

The bill is supported by the conservative Eagle Forum.

"Children should always be able to get the mental health care they need," Gayle Ruzicka, the organization's president, told KUTV 2News, "not just one-sided affirming opinions."

The bill was just unveiled Tuesday as the 2023 legislative session got underway, and it was introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning. It does not yet have a committee hearing scheduled.

The session runs until March 3.